Patriots sign veteran Galloway; receiver has caught 682 passes

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England has signed veteran wide receiver Joey Galloway, giving the Patriots two of the most prolific active receivers in the NFL.

The 37-year-old Galloway has a 15.7 yards-per-reception career average. That leads all active NFL players with 300 or more career receptions and is just ahead of New England’s Randy Moss, who has a career average of 15.6.

Galloway and Moss are also among only nine active receivers with 10,000 or more career receiving yards. Galloway has caught 682 passes for 10,710 yards in his 14 seasons with Seattle, Dallas and Tampa Bay. Moss has 843 receptions for 13,201 yards.

Galloway was released by the Bucs in February after an injury-plagued year.

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Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The 5-foot-11, 197-pound Galloway has played in 185 career games with 169 starts and 77 touchdowns.

Galloway’s 77 career touchdown receptions rank fifth among active players. He has recorded six seasons with 1,000 or more receiving yards (most recently in 2007) and is one of four players in league history to have three 1,000-yard receiving seasons with two different teams, joining Henry Ellard, Derrick Mason and Terrell Owens. In addition to his receiving accomplishments, he has recorded 141 career punt returns for 1,349 yards (9.6 avg.) and five touchdowns.

Galloway was acquired by the Dallas Cowboys from the Seahawks on Feb. 12, 2000, in exchange for two first-round draft selections (2000 and 2001). In his first season in Dallas, Galloway suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first game of the year. He returned to action in 2001 and started all 16 games for the Cowboys while finishing second on the team with 52 catches for 699 yards and team-high three receiving touchdowns.

In 2002, Galloway led Dallas with 61 receptions for 908 yards and tied for the team lead with six touchdown catches. In 2003, he led the NFL with an average of 19.8 yards per catch (34 receptions for 672 yards).

Galloway was acquired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from the Cowboys on March 19, 2004, in exchange for wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson. In his first season with Tampa Bay, Galloway played in 10 games with seven starts and had 33 receptions for 416 yards and five touchdowns while also recording 20 punt returns for 142 yards and a touchdown. Over the next three seasons (2005-07), Galloway led the team in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns each season while posting three straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons

In 2005, Galloway set a career high with 1,287 receiving yards on a career-best 83 receptions while also adding 10 touchdown catches. His 1,287 receiving yards in 2005 rank second in Buccaneers team history. In 2006, Galloway had 62 receptions for 1,057 yards and seven touchdowns. In 2007, he totaled 1,014 yards on 57 re-ceptions and had six scoring catches. Last season, Galloway played in nine games with four starts and had 13 receptions for 138 yards.